Search engine operators receive search queries from users, and in return provide the users with search results that are, hopefully, relevant to the user's query. To account for ambiguous or misspelled queries, or to provide the users with more relevant search results, attempts are often made to classify the queries entered by a user and the uniform resource locators (URLs) subsequently clicked on. The process of query classification attempts to assign the queries and URLs to a particular category that is representative of the content for which the user is searching. If a query is properly assigned to a category, more relevant and accurate search results may be presented to the user.
Additional uses of query and URL classification deal with the presentation of advertisements to user in conjunction with search results. Often referred to as sponsored search results, they are widely utilized by advertisers to target advertisements to users based on queries entered by the users into search engines. Operators of search engines position advertisements of an advertiser in conjunction with search results displayed to a user. Specific sponsored search results are displayed to users based on the content of the query they entered into the search engine, typically referred to as keywords. For instance, a user who enters a query for “Hawaii trip” could be presented with advertisements for a vacation package to Hawaii.
Advertisers typically desire to purchase a range of relevant keywords that their advertisements will be displayed in conjunction with in order to extend the reach of their advertising campaigns. Query classification provides an improved method of generating keywords by classifying queries based on the content they reference.